2nd pilot dies from midair helicopter collision, both identified

(HAMMONTON, N.J.) — The second pilot has died after two helicopters collided midair and crashed in New Jersey on Sunday, authorities announced.

The pilot of the model 280C helicopter, identified as 71-year-old Michael Greenberg, of Sewell, New Jersey, died at the scene, according to the Hammonton Police Department.

The pilot of the model F-28A helicopter, 65-year-old Kenneth L. Kirsch of Carney’s Point, New Jersey, was rushed to a hospital where he died from his injuries, police said.

The crash occurred around 12:25 p.m. Sunday in Hammonton, about 35 miles southeast of Philadelphia, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.

The FAA said an Enstrom F-28A helicopter and an Enstrom 280C helicopter “collided in midair” near the Hammonton Municipal Airport.

After colliding, both helicopters plummeted to the ground, landing near the 100 block of Basin Road, according to police. One of the helicopters became “engulfed in flames,” according to the Hammonton Police Department.

Police officers and EMS workers extinguished the flames, authorities said.

Witness Brian Sherr said he was outside of a nearby store when he heard a woman nearby “screaming, ‘Oh my God, oh my God.'” 

“I did hear a metal clank, but there’s a lot of vehicles around, so I didn’t really pay much attention,” Sherr told ABC News.

He said that as he looked up to the sky, he saw one of the helicopters “slowly descending in a rotating motion, almost as if the rudder and the tail had lost control.”

“I thought that was the only one at first, and then I see a second one come down with the same issue behind it,” Sherr said, adding he saw smoke rise after the second helicopter impacted the ground, prompting him to call 911.

Police said the helicopters were seen flying close together before the crash.